The first month — Whoa!

0
1306

The vice-presidency was a breeze — my thanks to Ashley Hartley for that gentle induction. To say the first month as RMBF president was eventful would be an understatement, but I’m loving it.

My first event was to the Wanganui RMBA AGM where it was good to see the strength of membership and to welcome Dave Corney in as president.
The next week it was off to the sunny south (Invercargill) for the Southland RMBA AGM and to welcome John Sherlock as president, taking over from Bruce Dawson after four years at the helm. It appears that business in Southland is certainly bucking the national trend.

Thank you to those associations for breaking me in gently. It was also pleasing to see the support given to Associations locally by the respective suppliers.
From the south it was back to Christchurch to get in a couple of hours work. I was then off to Wellington to meet with a subset of the Board and the National Party.
We met with Certified Builders Association chief executive Derek Baxter and their chairman Richard Merrifield for a strategy session.

United approach

It has become obvious that we have more in common than not, and we are both very united on our approach over licensing.
Our meeting with National highlighted several differences in the view the party has with the current system. We have continued to follow up from this meeting to clarify the issues in question.

It was extremely beneficial to go into that meeting with a united industry approach.
Christchurch’s Board meeting saw a very full agenda, including Mike Fox being re-affirmed as chairman, and Leno Frederico blooded in to the boardroom — well done Leno.

With our policy of getting around the regions, we met with the Canterbury RMBA and were appreciative of their views and input on a range of topics.
I was particularly pleased when “not much at all” was the response to my question of “what would you change about RMBF?”

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Pieter Burghout on his impending role as BRANZ chief executive. Pieter’s career always has been, and is about, adding value.
If we look at the BCITO it has flourished since Pieter’s involvement, and the RMBF has benefited in the same way.

The opportunity in front of Pieter is to have the same effect on BRANZ. This industry “hat trick” will have an incredible upside for all of us, so thank you Pieter.
In his role at the RMBF, Pieter has brought a whole level of life and energy to the position, and is held in the highest regard by all. His will be large shoes to fill.

Thorough recruitment process

The Board will be going through a thorough recruitment process along with relevant strategy meetings to ensure the RMBF’s positioning within the industry continues on the same trajectory Pieter and the Board have set.

The respect, transparency, hard graft and goodwill built up over the past years will continue.
In the weeks and months to come, I look forward to the Registered Master Builders House of the Year events starting.

This is the time where our members really get to showcase their talents to the industry and prospective clients alike.
I am looking forward to serving you all as your president over the coming two years.

Previous articleEditorial
Next articlePlatform jobs present big challenges